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Poultry Exhibit of the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture 

• BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DIVISION, 



AT THE EXHIBITION OF THE NEW YORK 
POULTRY AND PIGEON ASSOCIATION 
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. NEW YORK 



December 31, 1915. to January 5, 1916 



IVGOO"— 15 



WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 191E 










Page Two 



D, Of D. 
FEB 3 1916 



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Poultry Exhibit of the United States 
Department of Agriculture ^ ^ 



PURPOSE OF THIi EXIIIIUT. 

THE purpose of the Department of Agriculture in exhib- 
iting some of its birds at this show is to bring to the 
attention of poultry raisers in a concrete way the 
practical and experimental work being carried on by the Govern- 
ment. Through the exhibit the department wishes to make 
clear that its poultry specialists stand ready, as far as they can, 
to aid the individual poultry raiser in his problems, as well as, 
through publications, to make accessible to everybody the 
results of various experiments and practical information on 
poultry subjects. 

The birds shown are not competitors for any prizes. Many 
of the specimens are exhibited not because they are believed 




Im:,ij., View of Long Poultry Houst 



Page T h r e i 



Poultry Exhibit of the United States Department of Agriculture 




Bi .oders in Use. 

to be champion birds of their class, but to indicate the quality 
of the stock which is being used in the experimental work at 
the Government Farm. 

THE GOVERNMENT POULTRY FARM.. 

The birds come from the department's poultry farm, which 
is operated in connection with the experimental farm of the 
Bureau of Animal Industry at Beltsville, Md., 13 miles by 
trolley from Washington. This poultry plant is equipped with 
incubators for handling 2,000 eggs, and with model poultry 
houses for 2,500 birds, providing 90 separate pens and runs 
for 90 flocks of birds. In addition the plant contains a separate 
building for the housing of cockerels, with special pens for 
selective breeding. The entire plant is designed to provide 
ideal, sanitary equipment for the feeding and handling of 
birds. The aim, however, has been to use only such equip- 
ment as would be practicable in cost and nature for the regular 
poultry raiser. The farm provides also varied conditions for 
the unrestrained range of chickens and for their handling and 
feeding under ordinary conditions. 

Page Four 



Poultry Exhibit of the United States Department of Agriculture 

From 1, 800 to 2,000 chicks are hatched each year. The 
breeds kept are those which are commonly regarded as the most 
valuable for the farm, and include Barred and White Plymouth 
Rocks, White Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, and Buff Orping- 
tons. There are also a Hock of White Leghorns and one of Buff 
Leghorns. 

EXPERIMENTAL WORK AT THE FARM. 

vStudies are being made of the feeding of hens on various 
rations, including those in which the hen balances her own 
ration, rations in which fish meal forms a part, etc., vising only 
simple rations of widely available feeds. Hens are being trap- 
nested, and matings are being made to determine the possi- 
bility of inbreeding, and in certain instances to fix types desired 
in the flock. No birds are retained in the flock which have a 
disqualification that would bar them under the rules of the 
American Standard of Perfection. 

The results being obtained indicate that it is possilile to com- 
bine utilitv and standard breeding to a practical degree. For 
example, a Rhode Island Red male of good type and color has 




Small Colony Growing House and Chicks Inclosed by Portable Fence. 

Page Five 



Poultry Exhibit of the United States Department of Agriculture 




Cockerel House. 

proved to be especially prepotent with respect to producing 
daughters with an ability to lay well. Last year the daughters 
of this male were all good winter egg producers, and averaged 
over 150 eggs for the year. In 191 5 all of his daughters proved 
to be good winter layers, and up to date are ahead of last year's 
hens in production. Some of the offspring of this high producer 
are on display. 

Specialists are conducting studies in poultry breeding, and 
for the determination of the relative advantages, as regards egg 
production, of different methods of handling and different 
rations. The department also is devoting special attention to 
improving the conditions of the market egg, these studies 
covering the production of the market egg from the farm to the 
countrv store. In this connection the specialists are giving 
special attention to the keeping qualities of the infertile &gg. 
(See egg poster on exhibit showing the difference between the 
keeping qualities of the fertile and infertile egg.) 

In Washington and in the field specialists are conducting 
turkey and guinea-fowl investigations, including incubation, 
breeding, feeding, housing, and management. Another special 
study has to do with the management of turkeys, with the 
object of working out methods for prevention of excessive mor- 
tality. The department has charge of the study of the pro- 
duction of ostriches carried on at Glendale, Ariz. 



Page Six 



Poultry Exhibit of the United States Department of Agriculture 

The specialists cooperate with other branches of the depart- 
ment and with the vState agricultural colleges in establishing 
and assisting poultry clubs designed to interest boys and girls 
in raising chickens, and to teach them the best methods of 
handling poultry for the production of eggs. 

INVITATION To VISIT THE FARM. 

To all poultry raisers the department extends a cordial 
invitation to visit its poultry plant. Those wishing to visit the 
farm are invited to call at the Office of Poultry Investigations, 
Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, 1358 
B street SW., which is opposite the grounds of the United 
vStates Department of Agriculture. Arrangements will there 
be made for the reception of visitors by those in charge of the 
work at the farm. As has been said, the specialists of the 
department will be glad to supply special information in response 
to individual requests, or to see that poultry raisers interested 
receive literature of the department. 

MOTION PICTURES. 

In connection wdth this show, motion-picture films of the 
work at the Government Poultry Farm will be exhibited. 




Framework of Large Portable Colony House. 



Page Sc I' CI 



Poultry Exhibit of the United States Department of Agriculture 



PUBLICATIONS ON POULTRY. 

The department has published the following Farmers' Bulletins dealing 
with various phases of poultry raising, which will be supplied free to ap- 
plicants on application to the Bureau of Animal Industry or to the Divi- 
sion of Publications, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C: 

Standard Varieties of Chickens. InTo. 51. 
Turkeys: Standard Varieties and Manage- 
ment. No. 



No. 



No. 
No. 



Important Poultry Diseases. No. 530. 

The Orjianization of Boys' and Girls' Poultry 

Clubs. No. 562. 
Poultry House Construction. No. 574. 
Natural and Artificial Incubation of Hens' 

Eggs. No. 585. 
Shipping Eggs by Parcel Post. No. 594. 
Natural and Artificial Brooding of Chickens. 

No. 624. 
A Simple Trap Nest for Poultry. No. 682. 
Squab Raising. No. 684. 
Duck Raising. No. 697. 



Eggs and Their Uses as Food. 

Poultry as Food. No. 182. 

The Guinea Fowl. No. 234. 

Poultry ^Management. No. ;87. 

A Successful Poultry and Dairy Farm. 

355- 
Marketing Eggs Through the Creamery. 

445- 
Capons and Caponizing. No. 452. 
Hints to Poultry Raisers. No. 528. 

In addition to these Farmers' Biilletins, a number of technical papers 
on various phases of the subject have been issued. Some of the more 
important of these are given in the list below. These publications the de- 
])artment will furnish free as long as the supply for free distribution lasts. 
They are issued in limited editions, however, and when the department's 
supply is exhausted copies can be obtained only by purchase from Super- 
intendent of Documents, Washington, D. C, to whom should be sent the 
price named, in currency or post-ofhce money order (stamps not accepted). 

Commercial Fattening of Poultry. 1914. 55 pages, illustrated. (Agri. Bui. 21.) Paper, loc. 
Fattening Poultry. 1911. 60 pages, illustrated. (Animal Ind. Bui. 140.) Paper, loc. 
Improvement of Farm Egg. 1911. 43 pages, illustrated. (Animallnd. Bui. 141.) Paper, loc. 
Care of Farm. Egg. 1913. 52 pages, illustrated. (Animal Ind. Bui. 160.) Paper, 15c. 




Brood Coops for Hen and Chicks. 
V 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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